Best Brand for Curved Ultrawide?

[roland.g]

I am looking at getting a 34" 21:9 3440x1440 Curved Ultrawide.

I've seen that Dell, LG, and Samsung all make similar displays for approx. $800 depending on the current deals. Newer models with more ports, Thunderbolt rather than Mini Displayport, and better contrast are somewhat more.

Is there one brand that is better than the others? Going to connect to a 2014 Mac Mini as well as a 14" Dell Latitude when work comes home.

I don't game. This is primarily for home use, work use, and some movie watching and Photos app as well as other browsing, mail, etc.

 

[LiveM]

Whichever you choose, check it is compatible with the 2014 Mac Mini on Yosemite and El Capitan at 60Hz.

Yosemite killed 3440x1440 60Hz on the previous Mini and some monitors aren't compatible with Macs while others are.

 

[roland.g]

Whichever you choose, check it is compatible with the 2014 Mac Mini on Yosemite and El Capitan at 60Hz.

Yosemite killed 3440x1440 60Hz on the previous Mini and some monitors aren't compatible with Macs while others are.

From what I have seen the Dell works with a Mac Mini 2014 at 3440x1440 at 60Hz. Apparently you must use the onscreen settings to turn off DisplayPort 1.2. I'm not sure what that would do and what you may lose other than being able to daisy chain another monitor.

It looks like the Dell and probably the other monitors don't make their cool screen software for auto segmenting the screen for the Mac. No 1/3s, 1/4s, etc layout options or auto resizing between two apps by dragging a split screen style slider.

 

[iceman42]

i have the samsung S34E70C and i like it alot i don't have the ghosting problem that some other ppl say that they are having.i use it with my mac mini and my ps4.i like that it has 4 usb 3.0 ports on the back

 

[shoehornhands]

I am looking at getting a 34" 21:9 3440x1440 Curved Ultrawide.

I've seen that Dell, LG, and Samsung all make similar displays for approx. $800 depending on the current deals. Newer models with more ports, Thunderbolt rather than Mini Displayport, and better contrast are somewhat more.

Is there one brand that is better than the others? Going to connect to a 2014 Mac Mini as well as a 14" Dell Latitude when work comes home.

I don't game. This is primarily for home use, work use, and some movie watching and Photos app as well as other browsing, mail, etc.

I'm using the Dell U3415W (connected to a 2014 MacBook Pro 15") primarily for work / web development, and it works great. If I remember correctly, the Dell and curved LG use the same IPS panel, so they should be very similar. The Samsung on the other hand, uses a VA panel, so it might be a bit better at gaming, and have less backlight bleed, but the viewing angles and color reproduction might not be quite as good as the Dell / LG.

While I haven't personally used any of the other 3440x1440 displays, I feel pretty confident in saying that the adjustable stand is one area the Dell monitor blows away the competition (seriously, the adjustable stands that come with the current Ultrasharp monitors are the best I've ever used). When all else is equal, I usually lean toward Dell for this very reason.

Anyway, the U3415 quite frequently (once every month or two) goes on sale for $699, which is the lowest price I've seen on a curved 3440x1440 display, so keep an eye out for that.

 

[roland.g]

I'm using the Dell U3415W (connected to a 2014 MacBook Pro 15") primarily for work / web development, and it works great. If I remember correctly, the Dell and curved LG use the same IPS panel, so they should be very similar. The Samsung on the other hand, uses a VA panel, so it might be a bit better at gaming, and have less backlight bleed, but the viewing angles and color reproduction might not be quite as good as the Dell / LG.

While I haven't personally used any of the other 3440x1440 displays, I feel pretty confident in saying that the adjustable stand is one area the Dell monitor blows away the competition (seriously, the adjustable stands that come with the current Ultrasharp monitors are the best I've ever used). When all else is equal, I usually lean toward Dell for this very reason.

Anyway, the U3415 quite frequently (once every month or two) goes on sale for $699, which is the lowest price I've seen on a curved 3440x1440 display, so keep an eye out for that.

I've been looking for sales on the LG and Dell. Wasn't as interested in the Samsung.

What site typically has the $700 price? Newegg? B&H? Adorama?

I did read that to get the Dell to properly display 3440x1440 at 60Hz you have to turn off 1.2 in the onscreen settings.

And it sounds like there isn't any software from Dell (not sure about LG) for the Mac for auto partitioning and auto resizing application ion windows. Maybe better snap tool...

As for the stand, I am replacing a wall mounted 27" iMac with a Mac Mini and a Dell latitude for work (sharing this screen) and plan to VESA mount it on my current Humanscale arm.

 

[shoehornhands]

I've been looking for sales on the LG and Dell. Wasn't as interested in the Samsung.

What site typically has the $700 price? Newegg? B&H? Adorama?

I did read that to get the Dell to properly display 3440x1440 at 60Hz you have to turn off 1.2 in the onscreen settings.

And it sounds like there isn't any software from Dell (not sure about LG) for the Mac for auto partitioning and auto resizing application ion windows. Maybe better snap tool...

As for the stand, I am replacing a wall mounted 27" iMac with a Mac Mini and a Dell latitude for work (sharing this screen) and plan to VESA mount it on my current Humanscale arm.

Yeah, the $699 deal on the Dell monitor is usually in the Newegg promo email they send out a few times a week. Usually within a couple hours of Newegg running a promo, Amazon drops their price to match it as well.

Newegg also occasionally runs promos on the LG monitors as well. One solid deal I saw a month or two ago, was something like $859 for an LG 34UC87M-B (which I believe is just the business variant of the 34UC97-S), and a Playstation 3 was thrown in for free (which is an insanely good deal if you just sell the Playstation).

I don't have any issues running 3440x1440 @ 60Hz. I simply connected the monitor to my MacBook Pro using the included mini-DP to DP cable, and it defaulted to 3440x1440 @ 60Hz (with DP 1.2 enabled). I have the latest A02 revision (manufactured November 2015) so maybe it was an issue in the first revision that Dell has since sorted out? Everything seems to be working as advertised though.

If you plan to VESA mount it then the stand obviously isn't a big deal. The only other thing to consider would be warranty / customer service. The Dell UltraSharp monitors come with a pretty decent warranty, and I've had pretty good luck with Dell warranty support / service. I don't have any experience with LG support though.

Anyway, if the warranties / support are similar, I'd probably just go with whatever you can find cheapest. If you keep an eye on those Newegg promo emails, I don't think you'll have to wait too long before you see a solid deal on one of the curved 34" displays.

 

[roland.g]

Yeah, the $699 deal on the Dell monitor is usually in the Newegg promo email they send out a few times a week. Usually within a couple hours of Newegg running a promo, Amazon drops their price to match it as well.

Newegg also occasionally runs promos on the LG monitors as well. One solid deal I saw a month or two ago, was something like $859 for an LG 34UC87M-B (which I believe is just the business variant of the 34UC97-S), and a Playstation 3 was thrown in for free (which is an insanely good deal if you just sell the Playstation).

I don't have any issues running 3440x1440 @ 60Hz. I simply connected the monitor to my MacBook Pro using the included mini-DP to DP cable, and it defaulted to 3440x1440 @ 60Hz (with DP 1.2 enabled). I have the latest A02 revision (manufactured November 2015) so maybe it was an issue in the first revision that Dell has since sorted out? Everything seems to be working as advertised though.

If you plan to VESA mount it then the stand obviously isn't a big deal. The only other thing to consider would be warranty / customer service. The Dell UltraSharp monitors come with a pretty decent warranty, and I've had pretty good luck with Dell warranty support / service. I don't have any experience with LG support though.

Anyway, if the warranties / support are similar, I'd probably just go with whatever you can find cheapest. If you keep an eye on those Newegg promo emails, I don't think you'll have to wait too long before you see a solid deal on one of the curved 34" displays.

Thanks!

Found this review which pretty much solidified the Dell.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1PGHM...&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=541966&store=pc